Rear brakes, 4 pounds heavier per wheel, 2 pounds less rotating mass. After I flip the shock upside down, I predict 1.5 pounds will be removed from unsprung mass per wheel.
Attachments
Images (1)
Front brakes installed. 8 pounds lighter per wheel, including 2 pounds less rotating mass. I'll try installing the 15X8" Campagnolo's from the rear on the front tonight, and tighten down the lugnuts to determine if I made a mistake in the installation procedure. It's normal for aftermaket, non-factory rims to use this 15x8" dimension on the front. If it locks against the caliper too, then Plan A is to get some spacers made, so it doesn't keep me off the road and from going to Vegas. I'll buy time like that. Plan B is to rework the entire procedure and see if the solution is to put the rotor hats for the fronts on the outside of the axles. Things have to get fixed the right way, sooner or later, but sometimes a reasonable solution exists for interim demands.
Attachments
Images (1)
Here’s the new wheels I got at 4:00 today, Friday, a week and four days before taking off for Vegas with the guys coming thru from Atlanta. These wheels solved the problem of the front brake calipers clamping down on the Campagnolo factory rims: the front wheels now spin with the lug nuts tightened down. I was worried about that. I got nothing done last night after work, I was so dog tired I laid down for a nap and slept from 6:00 PM to 7:00 AM. I’ve been trying too hard to get it all done, and my body dictated rest.
I have to say I think the world of the folks who went to bat for me to make it happen and get these wheels to me. I have no idea why they had trouble from their supplier, and it could be a legitimate reason, that is none of my business, like death in the family, or something else that caused the hold up, but words flew, and tempers flared, and it got done. I also must say I’m not proud of some of the language I used, or that I felt I had to plead my case. I can tell you this: I’m a criminal defense attorney, and it makes cops mad when I win cases, but I’ve won their respect over the years and it’s called fighting fair, because it’s always a fight with them when you’re the defense attorney. After it’s all over, we still call each other by our first names (except the new one’s, and that’ll come later). I contribute to their causes, like fund drives when one of them gets shot, and they put heavy patrols in my neighborhood when I got burglarized. I hope we can get along after going thru rough times, and that’s always been the case, and I’m fairly confident I can continue to sort things out with people I have conflicts with and continue right along as usual, in Pantera business, and in the courtroom business.
I does make me really proud the measures people go to for me, even if we have a few struggles along the way. I want these people to know they can count on me, and sometimes they call upon me, and I do what’s necessary to help.
I’m going to have to take my Pantera to the body shop and get a weld done where I found a crack, just below the left rear sway bar mounting bracket, by the place where it’s jacked up from. I don’t know if the body shop is busy, but I know the owner. I rented my first law office from his dad for nine years and was never late with a rent payment. I know the whole family, and I know he’ll do whatever he can to help, because that’s how he is. No guarantees though, so I have to get a little lucky.
My Pantera is still on jack stands, and that’s because I still have work to do underneath it. I fired it up and ran it for twenty minutes, hoping the hydraulic lifter(s) would pump up and cure that whisping noise. Nope. I don’t get that lucky. I got out the stethiscope I use for my high blood pressure and narrowed down the area the noise is coming from. Crawling under the car, I saw the answer: black on the header gasket, on the front exhaust ports, left and right. Mike told me I risk burning a valve if I drive it to Vegas, so I’m going to do that job again. Coz helped me reinstall my headers last time, and it was a struggle getting the headers on, they just didn’t want to line up. We used a phillips head screwdriver to leverage to holes up and get a bolt started in the front headers on both sides. This time, I’ll be doing it alone, but Mike’s lending me his exhaust spreader tool to do it, so with the right tools and experience, it should be easier. This time I’m tightening the headers from the front to the rear. I have these little header locking nuts with c-clips on them that Husker told me about, and they worked to prevent the headers from loosening, but Coz and I had to trim the header gasket to make it fit last time, and it was narrow in that area on the front. Mike said I can’t just tighten it up, I have to use a new gasket, since it is burned. So, this time I’m going to use a separate gasket for that one exhaust port on each side to get greater gasket coverage. The original gasket burned thru in the same area, so I need to address this issue for longer term reliability. A trip to the speed shop tomorrow....
Mike also lent me his air tool that does the bleeding, as I saw was required to use from some other posts on this PIBB a few weeks or months ago. SO, I won’t have that red clutch line burst. I learned that reading Swen Dog’s post on that topic and ordered the same hydraulic hose he did, and it bolted right up, very nicely. If you’re reading between the lines here, you’re seeing that we all learn from each other, and I hope you learn a few tips or techniques from me, too. It works well for all the Pantera vendors too, because no matter who we order from, they all get more business, since reading about me or Swen Dog or Husker or Coz or hundreds of others doing projects serves to motivate those others among us to get going on a project they’ve been thinking about. So, let’s keep each other encouraged and keep teaching each other what we learn. It’s good business for me to get off the couch and do some physical work in the garage, and I get tremendous satisfaction from completing projects, like this brake upgrade kit installation project.
I hope you like my ‘novel’ as one of the Canadian’s, Deeb, called it. It’s just about a completed project, actually it is, except for the road testing phase. There’s just a few more things on my checklist to get accomplished before heading to Vegas and meeting some of you in person. I’ll look forward to being a Newbie there too, like a few of you other guys too. We’ll have fun, and our instincts will tell us: ‘man, that guy is just like me, he goes thru the same efforts to get his cat healthy and hopped up as I do’ and that’s one of the reasons I’m going, besides doing some driving that must feel like it must be illegal...... Like the POCA T-shirts I saw in the grey jacket issue I got this week. (Good article on Dyno Day, wish the Pantera guys in New Mexico were more organized and we could do that too.)
Adios amigos, I guess this story or novel is done. I guess it was Marlin Jack that said he likes a story that goes according to plan. Hollywood likes movies with happy endings, but tjis ain’t Hollywood, it’s real, and it’s a happy ending. Thanks to all who helped and to all who help each other everyday. That’s the Pantera spirit, dude.
Ron a/ka/a VFI
P.S. Thanks Steve, Dave, Mike and Tony (my machinist, whose assistant was scared to work on Pantera parts until Tony said, just do it one step at a time, like anything else.) There’s no way I can mention and thank all the people who have been helping me and motivating me, but you know who you are, and you know I’ll do whatever I can for you anytime I can, so just let me know.
I have to say I think the world of the folks who went to bat for me to make it happen and get these wheels to me. I have no idea why they had trouble from their supplier, and it could be a legitimate reason, that is none of my business, like death in the family, or something else that caused the hold up, but words flew, and tempers flared, and it got done. I also must say I’m not proud of some of the language I used, or that I felt I had to plead my case. I can tell you this: I’m a criminal defense attorney, and it makes cops mad when I win cases, but I’ve won their respect over the years and it’s called fighting fair, because it’s always a fight with them when you’re the defense attorney. After it’s all over, we still call each other by our first names (except the new one’s, and that’ll come later). I contribute to their causes, like fund drives when one of them gets shot, and they put heavy patrols in my neighborhood when I got burglarized. I hope we can get along after going thru rough times, and that’s always been the case, and I’m fairly confident I can continue to sort things out with people I have conflicts with and continue right along as usual, in Pantera business, and in the courtroom business.
I does make me really proud the measures people go to for me, even if we have a few struggles along the way. I want these people to know they can count on me, and sometimes they call upon me, and I do what’s necessary to help.
I’m going to have to take my Pantera to the body shop and get a weld done where I found a crack, just below the left rear sway bar mounting bracket, by the place where it’s jacked up from. I don’t know if the body shop is busy, but I know the owner. I rented my first law office from his dad for nine years and was never late with a rent payment. I know the whole family, and I know he’ll do whatever he can to help, because that’s how he is. No guarantees though, so I have to get a little lucky.
My Pantera is still on jack stands, and that’s because I still have work to do underneath it. I fired it up and ran it for twenty minutes, hoping the hydraulic lifter(s) would pump up and cure that whisping noise. Nope. I don’t get that lucky. I got out the stethiscope I use for my high blood pressure and narrowed down the area the noise is coming from. Crawling under the car, I saw the answer: black on the header gasket, on the front exhaust ports, left and right. Mike told me I risk burning a valve if I drive it to Vegas, so I’m going to do that job again. Coz helped me reinstall my headers last time, and it was a struggle getting the headers on, they just didn’t want to line up. We used a phillips head screwdriver to leverage to holes up and get a bolt started in the front headers on both sides. This time, I’ll be doing it alone, but Mike’s lending me his exhaust spreader tool to do it, so with the right tools and experience, it should be easier. This time I’m tightening the headers from the front to the rear. I have these little header locking nuts with c-clips on them that Husker told me about, and they worked to prevent the headers from loosening, but Coz and I had to trim the header gasket to make it fit last time, and it was narrow in that area on the front. Mike said I can’t just tighten it up, I have to use a new gasket, since it is burned. So, this time I’m going to use a separate gasket for that one exhaust port on each side to get greater gasket coverage. The original gasket burned thru in the same area, so I need to address this issue for longer term reliability. A trip to the speed shop tomorrow....
Mike also lent me his air tool that does the bleeding, as I saw was required to use from some other posts on this PIBB a few weeks or months ago. SO, I won’t have that red clutch line burst. I learned that reading Swen Dog’s post on that topic and ordered the same hydraulic hose he did, and it bolted right up, very nicely. If you’re reading between the lines here, you’re seeing that we all learn from each other, and I hope you learn a few tips or techniques from me, too. It works well for all the Pantera vendors too, because no matter who we order from, they all get more business, since reading about me or Swen Dog or Husker or Coz or hundreds of others doing projects serves to motivate those others among us to get going on a project they’ve been thinking about. So, let’s keep each other encouraged and keep teaching each other what we learn. It’s good business for me to get off the couch and do some physical work in the garage, and I get tremendous satisfaction from completing projects, like this brake upgrade kit installation project.
I hope you like my ‘novel’ as one of the Canadian’s, Deeb, called it. It’s just about a completed project, actually it is, except for the road testing phase. There’s just a few more things on my checklist to get accomplished before heading to Vegas and meeting some of you in person. I’ll look forward to being a Newbie there too, like a few of you other guys too. We’ll have fun, and our instincts will tell us: ‘man, that guy is just like me, he goes thru the same efforts to get his cat healthy and hopped up as I do’ and that’s one of the reasons I’m going, besides doing some driving that must feel like it must be illegal...... Like the POCA T-shirts I saw in the grey jacket issue I got this week. (Good article on Dyno Day, wish the Pantera guys in New Mexico were more organized and we could do that too.)
Adios amigos, I guess this story or novel is done. I guess it was Marlin Jack that said he likes a story that goes according to plan. Hollywood likes movies with happy endings, but tjis ain’t Hollywood, it’s real, and it’s a happy ending. Thanks to all who helped and to all who help each other everyday. That’s the Pantera spirit, dude.
Ron a/ka/a VFI
P.S. Thanks Steve, Dave, Mike and Tony (my machinist, whose assistant was scared to work on Pantera parts until Tony said, just do it one step at a time, like anything else.) There’s no way I can mention and thank all the people who have been helping me and motivating me, but you know who you are, and you know I’ll do whatever I can for you anytime I can, so just let me know.
Attachments
Images (1)
The End.
Thanks for reading this book all the way to the end.
Thanks for reading this book all the way to the end.
Attachments
Images (1)
After some maintenance details were accomplished, my Pantera was reunited with Earth, after several months in the air. It's ready to test drive, but another problem developed, totally unexpected. There was a funnel cloud in the sky this afternoon and the National Weather Service broke into "Radar Love" on the FM. The dude's voice was cracking and he told everybody who lives in a certain area to evacuate mobile homes and go to shelters, to get inside and stay in the interior middle of the house, so I turned around and went home, the parts store is in the direction of the tornado. I've never seen a tornado before, and it was grey and dark blue, like a long cord, in the shape of a rainbow, coming from the spinning clouds and going to Earth. Amazing. So it got dark and rained really hard for a few hours and early afternoon passed into early darkness. The roads are still wet, so tomorrow I get to test the brakes and maybe get a better photo. This photo doesn't do justice and I'm still learning digital photography, as you can tell.
The receptionist on Friday said "good luck getting those wheels installed on your car, and laughed." The other leagle beagles looked at them stacked on the floor in the hall and said "no way those will ever fit" so you can seee, I have to drive my Pantera to the office Monday, and I'll be the one laughing and smiling. The tires are really wide and fit really close to the vertical fender well vertical line of sight down. I took a body man dolled and pounded the 1/2" inner fender well lip up on all four wheel wellsm then I took those carpenter clamps that slide closed and went around the perimeter of the wheel well with two of them, closing the lip up closer to the wheel wells on the inside of the fender. A little paint cracked off about 2-3" on 3 wheel wells, but my cat is painted Auto-Zone white, I call it. It's actually Dura-Last GMC Truck White #T-110, available anywhere, so that's a very easy thing to fix. Just a little time, sanding, paintings, wet sanding, compounding, waxing and polishing and the touch-ups are nearly invisible. I like that, very forgiving to fix little things, like holes where 5 mph bumpers got deleted.
People just stared at these wheels on Friday, and I could tell they were both a little jealous and looked at me like I'm a little crazy. That makes me laugh. Thinking about getting the new header exhaust gaskets installed stops my laughter. Ah well, maybe they have the right to laugh and I am a little crazy when it comes to my Pantera. My Pantera behavior certainly isn't logical, why work on this thing 100 hours for every 1 hour I drive it? Doesn't make sense, but it does to me.
Need to polish up my camera shooting skills some. I'm happy to be at this stage of progress, and thrilled with what'll basically be the exterior visuals of my Pantera for the next 40 years. It looks like a new car from the future, still, to me. The Pantera was always years ahead of it's time, and I'm into Pantera's a lot lately.
The receptionist on Friday said "good luck getting those wheels installed on your car, and laughed." The other leagle beagles looked at them stacked on the floor in the hall and said "no way those will ever fit" so you can seee, I have to drive my Pantera to the office Monday, and I'll be the one laughing and smiling. The tires are really wide and fit really close to the vertical fender well vertical line of sight down. I took a body man dolled and pounded the 1/2" inner fender well lip up on all four wheel wellsm then I took those carpenter clamps that slide closed and went around the perimeter of the wheel well with two of them, closing the lip up closer to the wheel wells on the inside of the fender. A little paint cracked off about 2-3" on 3 wheel wells, but my cat is painted Auto-Zone white, I call it. It's actually Dura-Last GMC Truck White #T-110, available anywhere, so that's a very easy thing to fix. Just a little time, sanding, paintings, wet sanding, compounding, waxing and polishing and the touch-ups are nearly invisible. I like that, very forgiving to fix little things, like holes where 5 mph bumpers got deleted.
People just stared at these wheels on Friday, and I could tell they were both a little jealous and looked at me like I'm a little crazy. That makes me laugh. Thinking about getting the new header exhaust gaskets installed stops my laughter. Ah well, maybe they have the right to laugh and I am a little crazy when it comes to my Pantera. My Pantera behavior certainly isn't logical, why work on this thing 100 hours for every 1 hour I drive it? Doesn't make sense, but it does to me.
Need to polish up my camera shooting skills some. I'm happy to be at this stage of progress, and thrilled with what'll basically be the exterior visuals of my Pantera for the next 40 years. It looks like a new car from the future, still, to me. The Pantera was always years ahead of it's time, and I'm into Pantera's a lot lately.
Attachments
Images (1)
Road Test
First road test, the right front scrapes the windshield wiper motor splash shield, so that was removed for nw. It'll get modified later. Spongy brakes, so they got bled again, and more air was removed. No probles with air in the new hydraulic clutch line, firm pedal pressure.
Second road test, the tires are rubbing somewhere as I corner a little hard, and not at full steering wheel lock. I have to find out where this is occuring, and correct it. The brakes still have some air in them, and another bleed is called for. At full lock, the front tires must be rubbing on the drain tubes, so I have to look for shiny spots when the wheels come off again. It's been up and down on jack stands several times doing all this, and I have to keep at it.
Cross drilled rotors. My neighbor has cross drilled rotors on his "Bullet" dark green Mustang, and he was counselling me on breaking them in and what it's like: scary. There's grinding noises, pulsating brake pedal syndrome, and it takes about 3 days of normal driving to get the brakes seated in and to function properly. He, like me, tried to keep the rotors clean and the pads clean too, but his theory is the rotor manufacturers use solvents to inhibit rust, and while you can clean it off the rotors, it stays in the drilled holes and directional vanes, and gets on the rotors and pads anyways. That is what causes the scary brakes at the beginning. Afterwards, they are smooth and don't pulsate. Hot rod guys got to stick together to explain this stuff to each other, because it can get discouraging if you don't know what to expect. So, I'm glad to have another seven days before leaving for Vegas. It's not a good idea to just go driving on the freeway 10 hours and build up heat in the brakes without properly seating them in. SO, I have to drive it some more, but out of traffic because the lady in the minivan got within inches on the way home from work. I couldn't see her face in my rear view mirror, was she fusing with the kids? Talking on the cell phone, fumbling with a cigarette? I was talking to her: you hit me and it's going to cost you more than you think, so push on your brakes and quit rolling forward, I got no where to go with the car right in front of me! Man, I watch that happen on occasion, hit from behind by some one not paying attention.
The engine whisping noise is completely gone. Master Mechanic Mike helped me and taught me a trick installing new exhaust gaskets between the headers and the valves. Notch out the end holes to let the gasket hang, only leave the two end bolts in on each side, and tighten the ends first. I'm not putting the Stage 8 locking header bolt clips on now, that's a real pain and I need better gaskets than these Mr. Gasket paper jobs, I want FelPro, the best, so I have to look around, at a later time. New gaskets installed, the whisping noise is gone. That can cause a fire, the header flames exiting forward, toward the firewall, can catch grease on fire or burn thru a fuel line. Problem solved but it's on the "look out for" list of preventative maintenance.
Ups and downs of Pantera projects keep me guessing, while the rest of life floats along just dandy, thank goodness.... No more Pantera projects for a while. Right. I'll be on a new Pantera project as soon as I work out all the bugs on this project, having this sickness classified as Pantera Fever, as correctly diagnosed by my hot rod buddies.
I've invited over as many local Pantera guys as I can find to get together for some bench racing with the Pantera guys from Atlanta next Tuesday night. So, Fred may bring his Pantera over, he's supposed to contact Jim. Foster got an e-mail from me and there's also a hot Mustang guy from Los Alamos, NM who is invited, since he's one of us, going to Vegas, to do some qwick laps. Beer, pool, bench racing on a Tuesday night in the spring time, and then off to Vegas. Sounds great to me. Any other NM Pantera folks are invited too. Greg got an e-mail, but folks always have things on their plate, so who knows. I'll just try and make everyone welcome, and invited. Should be a cool sight on my street, never having seen so many great Panteras at one time.... Looking forward to that.
First road test, the right front scrapes the windshield wiper motor splash shield, so that was removed for nw. It'll get modified later. Spongy brakes, so they got bled again, and more air was removed. No probles with air in the new hydraulic clutch line, firm pedal pressure.
Second road test, the tires are rubbing somewhere as I corner a little hard, and not at full steering wheel lock. I have to find out where this is occuring, and correct it. The brakes still have some air in them, and another bleed is called for. At full lock, the front tires must be rubbing on the drain tubes, so I have to look for shiny spots when the wheels come off again. It's been up and down on jack stands several times doing all this, and I have to keep at it.
Cross drilled rotors. My neighbor has cross drilled rotors on his "Bullet" dark green Mustang, and he was counselling me on breaking them in and what it's like: scary. There's grinding noises, pulsating brake pedal syndrome, and it takes about 3 days of normal driving to get the brakes seated in and to function properly. He, like me, tried to keep the rotors clean and the pads clean too, but his theory is the rotor manufacturers use solvents to inhibit rust, and while you can clean it off the rotors, it stays in the drilled holes and directional vanes, and gets on the rotors and pads anyways. That is what causes the scary brakes at the beginning. Afterwards, they are smooth and don't pulsate. Hot rod guys got to stick together to explain this stuff to each other, because it can get discouraging if you don't know what to expect. So, I'm glad to have another seven days before leaving for Vegas. It's not a good idea to just go driving on the freeway 10 hours and build up heat in the brakes without properly seating them in. SO, I have to drive it some more, but out of traffic because the lady in the minivan got within inches on the way home from work. I couldn't see her face in my rear view mirror, was she fusing with the kids? Talking on the cell phone, fumbling with a cigarette? I was talking to her: you hit me and it's going to cost you more than you think, so push on your brakes and quit rolling forward, I got no where to go with the car right in front of me! Man, I watch that happen on occasion, hit from behind by some one not paying attention.
The engine whisping noise is completely gone. Master Mechanic Mike helped me and taught me a trick installing new exhaust gaskets between the headers and the valves. Notch out the end holes to let the gasket hang, only leave the two end bolts in on each side, and tighten the ends first. I'm not putting the Stage 8 locking header bolt clips on now, that's a real pain and I need better gaskets than these Mr. Gasket paper jobs, I want FelPro, the best, so I have to look around, at a later time. New gaskets installed, the whisping noise is gone. That can cause a fire, the header flames exiting forward, toward the firewall, can catch grease on fire or burn thru a fuel line. Problem solved but it's on the "look out for" list of preventative maintenance.
Ups and downs of Pantera projects keep me guessing, while the rest of life floats along just dandy, thank goodness.... No more Pantera projects for a while. Right. I'll be on a new Pantera project as soon as I work out all the bugs on this project, having this sickness classified as Pantera Fever, as correctly diagnosed by my hot rod buddies.
I've invited over as many local Pantera guys as I can find to get together for some bench racing with the Pantera guys from Atlanta next Tuesday night. So, Fred may bring his Pantera over, he's supposed to contact Jim. Foster got an e-mail from me and there's also a hot Mustang guy from Los Alamos, NM who is invited, since he's one of us, going to Vegas, to do some qwick laps. Beer, pool, bench racing on a Tuesday night in the spring time, and then off to Vegas. Sounds great to me. Any other NM Pantera folks are invited too. Greg got an e-mail, but folks always have things on their plate, so who knows. I'll just try and make everyone welcome, and invited. Should be a cool sight on my street, never having seen so many great Panteras at one time.... Looking forward to that.
Bullet (my neighbor) was right, the corrosion inhibitor solutions they dip the cross drilled rotors in flings out the holes and contaminates the brakes. I know his theory is correct because I took off my wheels and there was some dark residue on the inner rims, not too oily, and I had no hydraulic leaks and went thru no water puddles. The next day, a Ferrari 550 Marenallo was parked right outside my office window, so I went and took a close look at it. The Ferrari had the same little residue on it's inner rims too. His cross drilled rotors looked almost identical to mine and so did the residue! Must have the same number of directional vanes in his rotors. The rotor vendor said rotors come in cast iron, aluminum and steel. Cast iron is most common, Brembo used cast iron, and the colored finish wears off. His sales pitch was their rotors are controlled cooled after manufacturing over a period of three days, so the iron crystals orient just right.
And Bullet was right in his experience also. I was extra cautious looking for signes of grooving on my rotors, but there was only ever so slight of signs. Apparently, no matter how carefully machined, with chamfering and drilling, there are still some very slight imperfections. After driving about 60 miles, the brake pads act to smooth down the rough edges and the 'grinding' noise ceases. I was thinking the air might have been causing that noise, but that's not the case. Just a little seating-in will fix it. Man, it's nice to know these things when you're worried.... And nice to know who to ask, and get advice. Makes me feel good to get help when I need it. Bullet can call on me to help him with his hot rod projects any time, and I said so.
I'm really happy. A couple of weeks ago, I had a very long way to go, and I was filled with doubt about the time-line. Even yesterday, with a two page Pantera Project checklist, I was feeling pressure. I pressure myself in life, so it's normal. Even as I worked thru the checklist late into the night, I was thinking I'll clear the hurdle, but just by one 1/1000's of an inch. Now, with the help of Master Mechanic Mike, I'm clearing the hurdle with days to spare. He MIG welded my cracked frame, and ran out of wire, just as he finished, but before he welded in my jacking plates. Good enough on my priority scale. I was getting really frustrated having spent 4 hours the prior day messing around with the parking brakes and failing at that project, so he advised me to make a checklist, which I already had, then he said to prioitize the items. Wow, just a little clear thinking can save a lot of time and keep matters on track, so that multiple tasks can be accomplished, with minimal work.
With the back end raised for the welding of the cracked frame, I checked for hydraulic leaks again. None. I checked for grooved rotors, none. The wheels off and the front end also off the ground, he did a gravity bleed on the brakes, front and rear, just cracking the two bleeders on each caliper. That did it - no more sponginess on the brake pedal. Three bleeds, each bringing the brake pedal up another 1/2". Maybe one more bleed after Vegas, or at Vegas, just for perfection.
Before raising the front end, we checked the toe-in with the $26 tool from JC Whitney. Toe-in fine, the JC Whitney measured 1/4" toe-in while it was done previously at the shop with a recently calibrated computerized wheel alignment tool, we decied to believe the 1/8" toe-in is still there, but the JC Whitney device is good for just double checking. The Pantera body style creates an optical illusion that the front tires are in toe-out, since the body widens as it goes backward, and I don't want to ruin a set of new tires in one road trip, so I feel way better. On the tire wear subject, from reading this BB, I know that the Pantera rear tire wear is on the inside of the tires. So, even though it looks like there's no adjustment for the rear camber, I widened out the camber bar 7 turns of the nut, so just a little more that one full 360 degree turn. I may go another 180 degrees further with the rear camber bar to get more even tire wear.
We lowered the back end of the car and did a gravity bleed at the clutch slave cylinder (this means no pumping of the clutch during the bleed, like normal, when you pump it then crack the valve). It burped out three pretty good sized air bubbles from the clutch line at he slave cylinder. Then it was time to put another 1/2" of DOT-4 hydraulic fluid in the clutch master. Master Mechanic Mike had previously helped me flush my brakes and clutch lines last year, and I bought a gallon of DOT 4. It's just about gone. I'm packing a 1/2 pint size DOT 4 for the trip, just in case.
My brake master cylinder reservoir had gone down 1/4" all by itself in two days, and this means the brakes were 'self-bleeding' such that the brake master cylinder, being the highest point in the hydraulic fluid system, had burped a bunch of air all by itself, replacing air in the master and draining down the reservoir 1/4". I have to tell you, I'm learning a whole lot of stuff, and it makes me feel much more confident about driving my 32 year old car 10 hours each way for a track event. It's not acting confident at all, it's preparation, knowledge, understanding, transferred wisdom and experience, that provide this confidence to me with this car and the same principles apply to everything else in my life. That's how I get confidence, not from bluffing or talking myself up for something, nope, it's being overly prepared that does it for me. Confidence. That's the difference between a worrisome trip and a fun trip, and that's what it's all about. Then, when I get back, my Pantera will be at the next higher level of maintenance for a long time to come. When I track my Pantera, it's not to win, it's to go from my house, to the track, around the track, and back home again, without problems, and to establish a baseline with track results. That's what I'm doing. Learning about my Pantera and about life. Paying attention to details, and doing the work. Learnig is being frustrated with not knowing and feeling satisfaction with achieving the successful experience of learning and having the experience to draw from forever. It really gives me confidence to put myself thru this exercise. It was not easy. Many of you may have been thru this too too and that's pretty much about the way it is, right?
I just have a few things left on my checklist. Install a headlught relay (this may have to wait), install a second heater shut-off valve, clean the K&N air filter, change the ZF fluid, and then it's just clean the house and yard, get a haircut, and I'm ready for a vacation!
What an experience! My Pantera experiences are giving me energy to get a lot more things scheduled on my goals list. Look forward to meeting you guys in Vegas. See you there!
And Bullet was right in his experience also. I was extra cautious looking for signes of grooving on my rotors, but there was only ever so slight of signs. Apparently, no matter how carefully machined, with chamfering and drilling, there are still some very slight imperfections. After driving about 60 miles, the brake pads act to smooth down the rough edges and the 'grinding' noise ceases. I was thinking the air might have been causing that noise, but that's not the case. Just a little seating-in will fix it. Man, it's nice to know these things when you're worried.... And nice to know who to ask, and get advice. Makes me feel good to get help when I need it. Bullet can call on me to help him with his hot rod projects any time, and I said so.
I'm really happy. A couple of weeks ago, I had a very long way to go, and I was filled with doubt about the time-line. Even yesterday, with a two page Pantera Project checklist, I was feeling pressure. I pressure myself in life, so it's normal. Even as I worked thru the checklist late into the night, I was thinking I'll clear the hurdle, but just by one 1/1000's of an inch. Now, with the help of Master Mechanic Mike, I'm clearing the hurdle with days to spare. He MIG welded my cracked frame, and ran out of wire, just as he finished, but before he welded in my jacking plates. Good enough on my priority scale. I was getting really frustrated having spent 4 hours the prior day messing around with the parking brakes and failing at that project, so he advised me to make a checklist, which I already had, then he said to prioitize the items. Wow, just a little clear thinking can save a lot of time and keep matters on track, so that multiple tasks can be accomplished, with minimal work.
With the back end raised for the welding of the cracked frame, I checked for hydraulic leaks again. None. I checked for grooved rotors, none. The wheels off and the front end also off the ground, he did a gravity bleed on the brakes, front and rear, just cracking the two bleeders on each caliper. That did it - no more sponginess on the brake pedal. Three bleeds, each bringing the brake pedal up another 1/2". Maybe one more bleed after Vegas, or at Vegas, just for perfection.
Before raising the front end, we checked the toe-in with the $26 tool from JC Whitney. Toe-in fine, the JC Whitney measured 1/4" toe-in while it was done previously at the shop with a recently calibrated computerized wheel alignment tool, we decied to believe the 1/8" toe-in is still there, but the JC Whitney device is good for just double checking. The Pantera body style creates an optical illusion that the front tires are in toe-out, since the body widens as it goes backward, and I don't want to ruin a set of new tires in one road trip, so I feel way better. On the tire wear subject, from reading this BB, I know that the Pantera rear tire wear is on the inside of the tires. So, even though it looks like there's no adjustment for the rear camber, I widened out the camber bar 7 turns of the nut, so just a little more that one full 360 degree turn. I may go another 180 degrees further with the rear camber bar to get more even tire wear.
We lowered the back end of the car and did a gravity bleed at the clutch slave cylinder (this means no pumping of the clutch during the bleed, like normal, when you pump it then crack the valve). It burped out three pretty good sized air bubbles from the clutch line at he slave cylinder. Then it was time to put another 1/2" of DOT-4 hydraulic fluid in the clutch master. Master Mechanic Mike had previously helped me flush my brakes and clutch lines last year, and I bought a gallon of DOT 4. It's just about gone. I'm packing a 1/2 pint size DOT 4 for the trip, just in case.
My brake master cylinder reservoir had gone down 1/4" all by itself in two days, and this means the brakes were 'self-bleeding' such that the brake master cylinder, being the highest point in the hydraulic fluid system, had burped a bunch of air all by itself, replacing air in the master and draining down the reservoir 1/4". I have to tell you, I'm learning a whole lot of stuff, and it makes me feel much more confident about driving my 32 year old car 10 hours each way for a track event. It's not acting confident at all, it's preparation, knowledge, understanding, transferred wisdom and experience, that provide this confidence to me with this car and the same principles apply to everything else in my life. That's how I get confidence, not from bluffing or talking myself up for something, nope, it's being overly prepared that does it for me. Confidence. That's the difference between a worrisome trip and a fun trip, and that's what it's all about. Then, when I get back, my Pantera will be at the next higher level of maintenance for a long time to come. When I track my Pantera, it's not to win, it's to go from my house, to the track, around the track, and back home again, without problems, and to establish a baseline with track results. That's what I'm doing. Learning about my Pantera and about life. Paying attention to details, and doing the work. Learnig is being frustrated with not knowing and feeling satisfaction with achieving the successful experience of learning and having the experience to draw from forever. It really gives me confidence to put myself thru this exercise. It was not easy. Many of you may have been thru this too too and that's pretty much about the way it is, right?
I just have a few things left on my checklist. Install a headlught relay (this may have to wait), install a second heater shut-off valve, clean the K&N air filter, change the ZF fluid, and then it's just clean the house and yard, get a haircut, and I'm ready for a vacation!
What an experience! My Pantera experiences are giving me energy to get a lot more things scheduled on my goals list. Look forward to meeting you guys in Vegas. See you there!
Almost forgot. The brakes are for stopping and it really stops. Those 14" wide rear tires really help pull the speed off the Pantera in rapid style. There is no skidding of the back tires anymore. I feel more G-forces with hard stops, that means is a human head weighs about 10 or 15 pounds, then it seems like it weight 20 or thirty pounds when the brakes are pressed really hard, gives the neck muscles a workout, that's what g-force is. 9.8 meters per second squared. Some perfomance mods, and it feels like 20 meters per second squared.
Also I got out the hammer and pounded in the place on the front inner fender well, right behind the brake lines, where the rubbing had been. Then I painted it black so I can tell if it rubs off anymore, the black will wear thru to the original white body work underneath the fresh black painted area. I also did a light spray paint of black on the top part of the front fender wells, so I can tell if the black wears thru to white, I'm getting some rubbing there. So far, they don't seem to rub outer fender wells with these huge tires and wheels.
And I have to exclaim, the car puts more lateral G-forces onto my neck too, with the new wheels.
Last, the new right rear wheel bearing solved my handling problem. I has getting steering wheel shake on a particular stretch of freeway at 55 mph. Not any more. This cat will change lanes with a 1/4" turn of the steering wheel and the steering wheel doesn't shake any more on that stretch of freeway. And the bearing won't fail during my road trip and track event. Yes sir E! Musta been what Allesandro and Dallara had been designing way back then. Very close to a Formula One car for the boulevards. Amazes me that those original Girling front brake calipers were four piston.... Way ahead if it's/their time. A sign of genius, being way ahead in time, that's how I figure it. Way ahead of it's time...Genius. For us to enjoy the experience of driving such a fine tune machine. Thank you Mr. DeTomaso. Very Fast Italian Machine!
Also I got out the hammer and pounded in the place on the front inner fender well, right behind the brake lines, where the rubbing had been. Then I painted it black so I can tell if it rubs off anymore, the black will wear thru to the original white body work underneath the fresh black painted area. I also did a light spray paint of black on the top part of the front fender wells, so I can tell if the black wears thru to white, I'm getting some rubbing there. So far, they don't seem to rub outer fender wells with these huge tires and wheels.
And I have to exclaim, the car puts more lateral G-forces onto my neck too, with the new wheels.
Last, the new right rear wheel bearing solved my handling problem. I has getting steering wheel shake on a particular stretch of freeway at 55 mph. Not any more. This cat will change lanes with a 1/4" turn of the steering wheel and the steering wheel doesn't shake any more on that stretch of freeway. And the bearing won't fail during my road trip and track event. Yes sir E! Musta been what Allesandro and Dallara had been designing way back then. Very close to a Formula One car for the boulevards. Amazes me that those original Girling front brake calipers were four piston.... Way ahead if it's/their time. A sign of genius, being way ahead in time, that's how I figure it. Way ahead of it's time...Genius. For us to enjoy the experience of driving such a fine tune machine. Thank you Mr. DeTomaso. Very Fast Italian Machine!